Just Go With It!
by Purplela Vanilla
Summary: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you freckles, flaunt it. When life gives you nakama, cherish them. When life gives you a distinguished Revolutionary as a 'friend in need', supposedly dead, just go with it! It just might get you out of an unwanted execution. Unless you both get caught...HIATUS/discontinued!
1. Best-laid plans

Disclaimer: One Piece was released in 1997. So surely a human like me who was still learning their ABC's at that period in time couldn't have developed such a masterpiece, right?

* * *

Chapter 1: Best-laid plans

Clicking. Clinking. Clacking as hard as a ruby's edge were to if it collided along an emerald described the sound thigh high boots made as the legs in them, the body bestowed with such, blocked their fellow comrade's path. Halting his movement. His destination.

"Disappearing _again_ I see?"

"Stalking comrades _again_ I see?" countered the blond towards the brunette.

Bristled inwardly but not displaying it outwardly, the woman with Prussian blue eyes, arguably the darkest shade any living creature was born with narrowed them omnisciently, knowing all too well that the man across her would stand his ground, and even cement his feet into the earth if need be. Yes, he was that stubborn. So set in his unique ways. Evidently so, the stare-off between two highly-esteemed revolutionaries may have come across as hostile – the air did crackle with something akin to electricity, but it simply was the beginning of a little Q&A.

. . . .

_So many questions I'll never ask. _

The wind, annoying as ever, brushed around his head like a halo, leading him to frown as his hair, unkempt as ever—no thanks to that prison, tickled and danced upon his face in a weird, misplaced sense of joy he couldn't feel at the moment. Not when he was about to be strapped to an uncomfortable chair heading towards Marineford where he would surely meet his maker by the end of today. He scowled. And who could blame him?

_Might be meetin' Gramps again..._

Ace jumped off that possible train wreck of a thought, switching tracks to board instead a worse one. Impel down. He scowled once more. Reluctantly, all memories of that impenetrable fortress summoned into his mind, rolling many crucial clips of all events from bleak beginning to uncertain end.

It wasn't pretty.

Yet, despite all that they had thrown at him nothing stuck and damaged his heart or mind; his body was another story. Water, the scalding, illegal temperate they had sterilized and disinfected him with, or 'baptised' as they claimed took no points off his will. He didn't flinch. Belittling remarks from Impel Down staff slid off his body like energizing water from the fountain of youth. And certainly not the remarks from other damned prisoners who wouldn't shut up. Only one thing messed him up. One person.

_Luffy..._

. . . .

"Straw Hat isn't the reason, and he isn't the only wanted poster you keep guarded sacredly. Yes, I know don't give me that look. I'll hazard a guess that this newspaper is the answer to pretty much all of my questions."

"Good guess."

"And what's on it is obviously a _personal _matter."

"Yes."

"And the _person _who's on it is the main priority to everything you've been or are concocting?"

"You're on a roll."

"...It's impossible to know whether you'll make a difference or not."

A muscle ticked in the man's jaw. "It's impossible for me to let it slide and never to know the difference."

"You've got some luck on your shoulders cause if we were at our base in Baltigo, you'd never have been able to make it in time."

"I know. Believe me I do and that's all the more reason not to waste this chance."

"Why wasn't I assigned?"

"...Koala,"

"Why?"

"Location."

Her mouth opened then closed as soon as the location of the public execution became apparent to her. "Humph..." Touched, the slight affection in her tone belittled the sound she made. "Tell me, does Dragon know?"

The man's deep blue eyes, darker than his comrade's as impossible as it was widened impossibly, passing their born-given circumference. "Damnit!" Eyebrows raised so high they nearly passed his hairline. "Dragon. Explanation. The letter. How'd I forget that?"

"Unbelievable."

. . . .

It was still difficult to believe and remember without wanting to that fierce, violent protectiveness that had snugly wrapped around his heart, mind and body as he fought off the guards, against the all the odds stacked Skypeia-high against him with nothing but the snatched weapon he twirled around like second nature. No one could forget that his hand were _still _bound during that event. He wasn't one to be underestimated but he was restrained all the same. His actions were brainless and fruitless. But he gave no damns. Luffy was the ultimate priority then and there.

As always. As usual. As ever.

_He never changes._

Ace never stopped worrying for the special case his younger brother was and is. This why he had made that bestowed promise since _that _day, and another personal once when he had messed up badly.

_But now..._

His urge to protect meant nothing. It held the same worth as an expired banana. Just like a rabid animal, a revolting criminal, a piece of trash, a stain of sin he had been told he was and grew to believe he was, there wasn't a damn thing he could do to protect himself, let alone Luffy then and now.

Grey eyes, mirthless and miserable looked up to the sky with what can only be resignation.

_What would you have done, Sabo?_

. . . .

"Regarding what you've been up to, you must've spent hours planning this and calling favours from our comrades incognito at several bases."

The man barely listened, still rummaging around his trousers' pockets, then jacket's, then the rucksack around behind his back for a special envelope. Panic was so close in crawling across his face until...

"Aha! There you are!"

"And that is?"

"An envelope, surely you can see that." as the woman frowned, the man smirked. "Inside is a well-thought out, incredibly persuasive letter. Not the only one but that's another story. More importantly it's a favour I'm asking you as a friend, and not a comrade to hand to Dragon for me. Or my superior. Whatever works."

Walking over to her blond-haired comrade, the brunette's elegant fingers hidden in gloves took the important message from him and inspected the obvious care that went into its pristine condition.

"You owe me."

"As always."

"As usual." she corrected, offering some humour to contaminate her voice along with a Camera Den Den Mushi which silently entered his bag as he travelled onwards to his destination.

. . . .

Shots. Picture shots at first of the past. But then the visual turned aural. Sounds, a library-sized recollection of voices contaminated all the pirate's thoughts and feelings, granting him access to recall how his short-lived life escalated and led him to who and where he was today.

"_Take care, Ace! When I set out to sea in three years, I'll have gotten even stronger!"_

"_Me? A pirate? Well, if you have that much faith in me then I guess I'll be the best godamn First Mate you'll ever have...Captain."_

And he was. Isamu definitely was. Ace knew a brave one when he saw one.

"_I never knew he had a brother! I see. I'm glad you came!"_

"_I'm not going to allow a kid with a murderous intent to see the old man!"_

"_Become my son!"_

He had to bit back laugh, knowing he'd startle the Marines securing his body to the chair when recalling how pissed off he had been to hear that those provoking, lethal words the first time.

"_Hey! I'm Commander of the Fourth Division...Thatch!"_

"_Because he calls us his sons. To the rest of the world we're all just outcasts. It makes us happy"_

Ace now knew how that felt. Knew it so well that the first sensation of such a joy never escaped his him.

"_Go ahead, Commander Ace!"_

Eyes shuttered and darkened in provocative, rage-like emotion towards the 'person' in that memory.

"_It doesn't matter who your parents were. Everyone is a child of the sea."_

"_And now, Ace is officially the Second Division Commander!"_

"_Ace. It's fine. I have..." _

Whitebeard's were left incomplete.

Left to their full meaning in the sphere of his mind. Unable to be accessed when his attention was brought back to the present. Today. Sat on an uncomfortable chair. The pirate's ear picked up on the commands shouted, and the answers given. It was time. The anchor relieve of its duty signalled that. The ship's engine coming out of retirement was another signal. It was time to depart Impel Down as the clock of life, sprinting and rushing forwards dragged him along for the ride. Literally. Nearer and nearer he would be in distance, Portgas D. Ace would head out towards his final destination as his antagonist of the month, the past few months in fact, told him.

. . . .

"They told me. Don't worry, I'll do...something to their memories. So whereabouts are you _exactly_? Sabaody yet?"

The pen twirled between the blond man's fluid fingers ceased to spin, "No. Not yet but soon if this eternal pose is telling the truth." then continued it's aerodynamic performance. Unfortunately the show was cancelled in order for the high-ranking revolutionary to use it's talent to jot down, erase, re-write, cross out, re-write again, then circle the various scribbles of notes written on a notepad.

There were many stages to this intelligent, yet insane plan of his.

"Soon? Boy, are you earlier than the norm."

"Early bird catches the worm, Kioshi."

"Bird? Last time I checked you weren't a devil fruit user...right?"

"It's a saying."

"Ah, I knew that."

"_Right_." His other hand not engaged with a pen handled the White Den Den Mushi. "Back to business, I've got two questions for ya. How long have you and the others been infiltrating the Marineford base? And has any one of ours been caught?"

"Err...six months give or take for the rest of us. Nariko's different. And no Marine has suspected anything or anyone outta the loop. They're none the wiser, but of course we've hacked their system flawlessly and covered our track if we ever left a mess."

"Good to hear. Tell me about Nariko. You filled her in, right?"

The other revolutionary on the line, jutted his lips out in a five-year-old pout. "Aww, I hope that's not doubt in your voice cause I sure did tell her, and 'she' truly lives up to her namesake."

Hearing that whine in that usual silvery voice—not to be taken lightly, the deep blue-eyed man could almost picture the bronze-haired teen pouting.

"Unlike you."

"Cheap shot, meanie. But seriously, she jumped rank higher than I did." the younger revolutionary either exaggerated his tone or was going hysterical. "I had to be a chore boy for a month, while _she_ got put in as a commissioned officer right off the bat. Some dirty justice the Marines deal with here."

"Heh, don't we know it." were words close to being spat out since a liquidly amount of substance gathered in his mouth. Over the boat's railings the contents nearly went. Words he'd spoken had left a foul and bitter after taste.

"Now about Nariko."

"To quote Ms. Diligent, whatever area you land on make it to the 'lawless zone'. 12:00 by the 'Poor Unfortunate Souls' bar. You'll find her then, wearing that _hat_ you said. Afterwards the next stages of your plan will flow as smooth as..."

Failing to search for a flawless metaphor, pastoral green eyes - the very reflection of tranquil, trustworthy meadows, widened when the owner of them thought of something that was decent enough.

"Basically something that flows."

Decent in _his_ terms. _His_ mind.

"Yeah, good. Something that flows." Distracted by negative, consequential scenarios, the older revolutionary parroted the words spoken. His distraction lead to worry as wrinkles etched their presence along his forehead, almost engraved. Almost permanent - like a tattoo, so to speak.

"I get that, Kioshi."

"I know you do. But..."

"But?" the blonde man echoed back.

"You worried?"

An indecipherable sound created by tongue left his lips. "Take a wild guess. Maybe I seriously need to save this particular pirate for another reason than disastrous worldwide change. Plus, I can't help but remember that even monkeys fall from trees."

"Animals again?" Kioshi might have frowned, as rare as that was. "Seriously, what is up with all these sayings. Whatever, the most important thing is that I know an appropriate one for you, chief."

The mentioned 'chief' shook his head at those spoken words, feeling quite sceptical. Respect was another sentiment he might have felt. Moreover, Kioshi was not the first person to tease him like this, so perhaps the rumours of his so-called promotion were true after all.

"Lay it on me."

At the drop of a hat was the current speed trustworthy eyes were very viridescent and lively. Spirited even as they sparkled hypnotically. This all led to supreme, spiritual, sage advice uttered in a mere whisper.

"Just go with it."

* * *

**A/N:** Honestly that mind-blowing _**chapter **__i_n the manga, the _**revelation **_one, you know **WHAT,** **WHICH** & _**WHO**_, blew me away and compelled me to write this un-canon-but-should-could-have-happened-fic. Then again, this plot did bounce around once in my mind. And now the first part of it is written. Thanks for reading! Please REFLECT on what you've read then, REVIEW by typing your thoughts or/and criticisms. It would definitely help.


	2. Oft go astray

Disclaimer: One Piece was released in 1997. So surely a human like me who was still learning their ABC's at that period in time couldn't have developed such a masterpiece, right?

* * *

Chapter 2: Oft go astray

Apprehended, they witnessed his nimble finger attach tape to their lips. Astonished, they witnessed his call with the _chief_. Astounded, they witnessed him finish the call. Amazed, they witnessed him produce a placating smile towards them (which was hypnotic), as if nothing was out of the blue. Regarding the strange Marine that baffled them, things seemed to be all in order to him.

Still, his previous actions did not resemble the naive and nice and nirvana-like notes of his silvery voice. "I swear on all the indoctrinated junk called _justice_ that's been fed to you Marines that I won't tell a soul."

Silver held a friendly tune but it ain't no Gold.

They knew that now.

"C'mon, it's me. I'm trustworthy, aren't I? I mean, didn't I give _you_ my piece of chocolate cake when yours fell down, and didn't I keep my mouth shut and not tell your girlfriend about you doing you-know-what with you-know-who in you-know-where?"

Marines, two of them handcuffed by exceptionally long manacles from wrists to their ankles, positioned in crouched position on the floor, didn't know how to work their jaw, move their tongue and respond. Words physically couldn't escape their lips, but their faces pretty much described their feelings.

A pair of two lips curled behind a sticky strip.

Speechless like them, anyone else would wonder who _exactly_ was this teen—this Marine? His questionable actions at present passed borderline betrayal. No two ways about it. Tying down your fellow comrades as if they were the dual public enemies raised all the red alerts a bystander wouldn't miss.

"Aha!" the bronze-skinned teenager clicked his fingers. "Is this silence thing because of my questionable actions. You know, the: tricking you here, tying you up, and then interrogating you? Aw, don't worry to much. Try not to take it personal."

Voices, two muffled but still in working order unleashed a stream of expletives.

Facial expression again led the teen to guess the dirty words spoken. "Hey, focus on the priorities here – not profanities! One my priorities is the surveillance Den Den Mushi's mounted along the stairs that lead to the prep room. How long it'll last when shut down? Hope there's no back-up system for when it does. That'll be a pain for, Reiko. Oh yeah, I'll need the...huh? Hey, why aren't you guys..." Studious eyes focused on the stages of the plan scribbled on his hand drifted to the hog-tied Marines. "Ah, forgot about those."

The teenager's forgetfulness meant and offered nothing to the victims experiencing a searing, 45 degrees tape burn. The two calloused-skinned, burly men who were primary guards that escorted lowlifes on death row to the preparation room – not entering in it, almost lost their cool due to a _tape burn_.

It never did occur to the bronze-haired teen to rip the tape off their lips with care.

"Sorry."

Four eyes, incredulous, blinked when realising that they couldn't call him out on that apology. It actually was genuine. Plus, that smile made it hard to be furious.

What kind of powers did this betraying Marine possess?

"Now that's over, back to business. The malfunctioning toilets on the fourth level are a no-go for everyone – no human's brave enough to stand that stink. Also, is the Den Den Mushi surveillance office is located on the third level?" the teenager read a subtle, reluctant sign in one of their faces. "Knew it. Okay, now I need ya to tell me where I can a spare pass card to access the stairs that lead to the prep room. I've been told that the lifts are accessible only to-"

"Screw that!" a belittling snort from the careless Marine snapped into the teen's words. "You must be outta your godamm mind if you think we'd tell you the info you want!"

"What he said!" the cocky Marine beside the confident one added his two-bellis worth of useless bravado. "Anyway, _kid_," was spat out like blood. "we'd tell – in fact we'll be telling the higher-ups about your sneaky infiltration and dubious goals. Mark my words, this plan, you, and this chief of yours who plotted it will be caught."

"And sent off to Impel Down?" was delivered again in a tone of enviable ease. The ribbon on top the gift was the cheeky grin growing on young man's lips.

"Wrong! Jeez, surely you know what happens to questionable Marine like you?"

"Kid, you're not the first Marine to have pulled the wool over our eyes."

"Scum like you who pervert the Marine's justice aren't even worth enough to be thrown in Impel Down."

In the face of a nasty quirk the cocky guard's lips which was way more disturbing than the malicious gleam in the careless guard's hooded eyes, Kioshi still held his mirthful mouth in place.

Still, one had to ask why he swallowed so thickly.

**. . . .**

"An absolute abomination that even the owner of hell claimed to be a _sin, _so to speak_._"

"An abomination? Well, at least it brings out those hidden shades in your hair."

"_It_ is insulting." spat Nariko, the fair-haired revolutionary's realist of a comrade who was very much displeased with his fashion sense regarding headgear.

_Koala should have chosen the type. She'd have known how to be noticeable and not flamboyant. _

Pink. Neon pink. The attention-seeking, kill-me-now, unpopular colour of all shades in the world. What the hell had her comrade been thinking?

_Obviously his brain was out of commission for whatever reason. _

"It suits you."

"I repeat: _It_ is insulting."

"I guess. However," the next set of playful words meant to tumble out his mouth, crawled back down his throat with their tail between their legs.

Nariko tilted her head at an angle of bellicoseness.

"you're absolutely right."

Composing himself instantly, the man noticed and understood _that slow_ turn of her head; he realised and understood that he had less than five seconds to take back his unfinished words. Although he didn't complete the sentence, his internal organs were at stake. Hopefully not his lower regions too.

Damage she could cause to those parts would be irreparable.

"Now that I think about it—what was I thinking? You're absolutely right."

"I often am. However, I'm liable to make mistakes."

"Mistakes?" the male revolutionary did not like the sound of that.

"Hn, wrong word. Perhaps I should say that life's throwing extremely fast curve-balls in our ways today."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning one must avoid those curve-balls and do whatever is necessary."

Her comrade raised both his brows, waiting for it. The bombshell.

"Reiko's part of the operation too."

"R-r-reiko?" The man hadn't expected the bombshell to be as friggin' funny as it was. He swallowed a laugh, his lips tightening to trap jolly sounds. "Don't hate her, but you do know that there's reason why even Dragon calls her a lazy ass. Verbally."

"Yes," said Nariko, begrudgingly. "I've heard about her."

"Heard. Not worked with her. Nariko, trust me, Rei's the goddess of laziness." he sounded more amazed than annoyed or angered. "Obsessed with popcorn! Hell, she's so lazy that she nearly let a gun shot kill her cause she thought that dodging the bullet would be too much work."

"Stop exaggerating."

"I was there! Koala had to be the one to push her outta the way."

"Sa-"

"And that was before she ate the Duba Duba no Mi."

Nariko's head shook at those words, allowing her dyed, raven black hair to sway as she refused the believe that kind of indolence existed. "Nevertheless, she's indispensable. She passed the initiation test without revealing her devil fruit powers. Her position in the Marine HQ as a member of the surveillance team is an advantage to us, meaning she can rise up to the challenge. That being said, explain to me how our _lazy ass_ of a comrade achieved such feats?"

Guilt may have been visible in his grumbled words. "Never said laziness equalled stupidity."

"Exactly. Dragon knew that and so did Kioshi when I told him about her participation. Speaking of Kioshi, did you call him?"

"Mhm, sure did – 30 minutes ago. He told me about pass card he'll get for me, out of order toilets where the rucksack's located, and time line of events. I asked him a few other questions, and later on he gave me advice."

_Advice?_

The dark-haired revolutionary's pursed lips did not go unnoticed by her comrade. "It seems that Kioshi may have omitted some facts out from you. Then again, you did speak to him thirty minutes ago..."

"I hope for your sake that you remembered my previous warning of curve-balls today. I'm certain you of all people understand the plurality of that word."

Leaning further back against the rigid, colourful walls of the backstreet behind the bar, the blond revolutionary formed a grim smile which hooked heavily to his right sided cheeks.

"Nariko, you seriously need read up on how not to deliver bad news in an ambiguous, monotone voice. Not encouraging."

**. . . .**

"Twenty minutes, Portgas. That's all that remains of this short voyage."

Indubitable provocative words lead the mentioned pirate to blinked in response. That reaction was not the desired response the disfigured Rear Admiral would've liked. Being a man who didn't cave in too soon as well as being a man who could hold a millennia-year-old grudge, the Marine sought out visible cracks the pirate-to-be-beheaded may have hidden.

"Not talking I see? Are you reflecting upon your life? I don't blame ya." The smile (if it could be called that) that stretched across the Rear Admiral's face was certainly his remaining elements of humanity. "After choosing a stupid, hedonistic path that's made you dig your own grave, reflection is a must."

Portgas D. Ace, the pirate mentioned again blinked slower. Inwardly, he did smirk at the growing seed of aggravation which bloomed upwards along the Marine's scarred face.

The aggravated old man chuckled. "The silence treatment? Never thought you of all people would've been the type. Guess the apple does fall far from the tree, eh?"

No verbal nor physical response. At least not outwardly.

"If my memory serves me right, maybe twenty-two years ago, a chip off the old block you certainly are not."

One physical response – a strong jaw ticked.

The Rear Admiral caught him in the act.

"Like father like s-"

Ace's shoulder's tensed.

But the real physical response was given in the form of narrowing eyes. A glare colder than the insane temperatures at Drum Island. A temperature so low frosting around his eyes that he could've frozen the blood over all rookie Marines, and what made it scary was the fact that ice—chilliness, didn't fit into the pirate's nature.

He ablated people with a look.

"Then again, that sinful father of yours smiled in the face of death. At least you've got the god-given sense to fear it."

"Funny you should mention fear, Marine, cause where the hell is yours to fear me?"

He snorted, derisively—dirtily—dementedly. Like he'd heard a joke only three-percent funny. "What on earth can you do?"

"Can?" the pirate parroted, a veiled threat in his next words. "I think the word's could. You should know, shouldn't you?"

Those words unleashed the same notorious laugh to be let out. "Unbelievable, Portgas. You truly do represent the very thing all people despise in pirates like yourself. What a shame. Thought you'd matured since the last time we met."

Which was five months ago, where a battled raged heavily and costly across waters, resulting in badly disfigured Rear Admiral and a psychologically traumatised Ace for two days.

"Really? Thought you'd died the last time I saw you drowning."

**. . . .**

The flaxen-haired man made, truth told, forced all and every gear in his brain to grind away that unneeded numbness which could and would welcome his partner-in-crime named panic to beat down his open-mindedness.

The man caught himself before he stilled, ninety percent of his body seemingly quadriplegic from an emotion he couldn't afford to entertain. Didn't have _time_ to entertain. Honest to God, he really, really didn't need that crap on his plate. Yet, he was in a quandary. But it'd take him a century to admit that. But that block of diamond-crusted doubt – not soft like Brie cheese, wouldn't be grated.

He could almost reconsider his reluctance.

"...what?"

_How the hell could...in an hour! Why did those Marines...?_

Stood opposite him, the woman sporting a prim and proper bob hair cut straightened up against the wall, her back creating a new definition and angle to the word _vertical_.

"I'm afraid I didn't stutter." As cool as kiss the wind blew upon their cheeks was the heat of her crisp, and irritatingly calm voice. "The situation is as it is."

"Brief me again, Nariko. _Slower._"

His comrade began to do as she was told, unfortunately the man listening with ears still thought he was hearing wrong.

_All rota's have...execution time changed to...ship to escape on no longer in my...Rear admiral in possession off...stairs unavailable but lifts are inaccessible unless...thirty minutes instead..._

It'd happen before. Yes, it was true that the revolutionary did have a habit of mishearing stuff e.g. getting people's names wrong now and then.

But he was NOT deaf!

"...and you disguised as one of the secondary guards to enter the preparation room is not possible. Impossible." She blinked as humanly as possible. "Need I give you more synonyms?"

As insane as it would be—borderline suicidal, the blond man would have rather asked his comrade how her last menstrual cycle went than hear what left her mouth. Emphasis on_'__would have__'_not _'should'_. If he hadn't heard Nariko's words before, then he heard them this time round loud and clear.

It sucked.

Sucked that absolutely no lies or doubts could be gleaned off the _Queen of Aloofness_.

"Truth be told, this abomination of a hat has more of chance of warming its pathetic way into my heart than you entering as a guard."

And to make matters worse, did she have to say what she said like that? It was bad enough that the previous words spoke possessed the threat of a Buster Call, but a total catastrophe that her badly timed, lost-but-found-but-not-funny humour was the explosion of one.

"_...even monkeys fall from trees."_

It didn't ease anything in his gut that his words may have jinxed the whole entire operation.

"_Maybe I seriously need to save this particular pirate for other reason than disastrous worldwide change."_

Nevertheless, his true motives for such an operation would never let his confidence or convictions fall. The gears in the blonde's brain were grinding away harder, obliterating everything that stood between him and Portgas D. Ace.

"Give me alternatives." Nariko arched a brow at the change in tone, and temperature outside which might've dropped once he spoke. One needed to check that out. "I might have a plan. Probably crazy but that seems to be what the world's running on these days."

**. . . .**

A polar vortex entered the room. It must have. Or perhaps two polar vortices because there way no way Kioshi's customary greenish aura could have manifested to that colour. Any colour but _that one _would've been fine. Since it wasn't, his upbeat, warm aura was non-existent now. Yet, somehow. Some way. The two tied-up buffoon didn't realise it until it was too late. They missed the signs. The way how things disappeared once that vile name was spoken.

"...Celestial Dragons."

All traces of mirth on the teenager's face vanished.

All traces of the past inappropriate but tolerated calm in the air vanished.

Kioshi's human nature – holy humane nature vanished.

"You'll be sent off to the holy land and made a..."

For a moment. A moment where enough seconds and minutes existed for memories – his past, to be evoked and played again and again and...

"_A devil fruit? I'd rather not. Surely..."_

"_We will! We'll see what will become of that once he eats this."_

"_Don't father! Don't feed it to him! What if my slave's pretty, pretty greens disappear once he..."_

Reminded of how bubble-helmet wearing monsters from Mariejois pushed him too far. Far, far, far beyond that very human brink of fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. The result of that far beyond was awaking from its long, unresolved nap.

As it awoke so did the primitive instincts of two hog-tied Marine guards.

They sensed it. Could've sniffed it. It was all around their air.

They were ensnared.

The ropes had nothing to do with it.

Tense, the guards tried to hold what little ground they had as the kid rose. Tense, the guards caught themselves, not reacting to the manifest-able – was it burgundy? Aura that took off a bit of the teenager's youth. They'd caught a flash – a jungle greenness – a greenness of a jungle in those irises where an untried, unknown _thing_ discovered a whole new way of survival.

"Wanna bet?"

A cold wind was carried in those words, the frostbite-like sound waves entering their ears. Worse of all, it wasn't your average, universal chill of: _'I'm pissed off __so I will blow __off__ steam verbally__.'_

No way.

Nope.

Nuh-uh.

This chilly aura was a: _'I maybe young but I know the three veins located in your foot which'll take out your brain and heart out in one second.' while _the glint in perfect straight teeth (one looked a little too sharp for comfort) said: _'Want a demonstration?'_

"You won't be in_ workable_ state to say a word."

Not that anyone of of them would admit on their deathbeds, but the urge to piss a puddle was very much becoming a need once Kioshi's eyes were back to the earthly hues of grass. Like nothing was wrong. Like he had done nothing wrong.

Funny that he hadn't.

Maybe time would tell.

"Tell me, how do dead men speak?"

* * *

Explanations: Duba Duba no Mi: A devil fruit which allows the user to have multiple copies of themselves, and other living creatures within their distance once the user touches them. (Found and borrowing this awesome DF idea in OP fanon wiki)

A/N: And here's the second, _long __(when it wasn't supposed to be)_ part of JGWI where things are _kind of _going as plan, but the ball isn't exactly rolling yet. It will soon. Things will come to pass, meaning an inevitable, imminent reunion too – but you'll have to wait for whatever chapter that may be. Hope you readers out there know that the revolutionaries (three of them non-canon characters) so far working alongside our blonde freedom fighter are: Kioshi, Nariko, and Reiko. Reiko's devil fruit has already been said, but I wonder if any one can guess what Kioshi's is?

Hint Hint: It's a paramecia type. Maybe found on OP fanon wiki's.

Thanks for reading! Please REFLECT on what you've read then, REVIEW by typing your thoughts or/and criticisms. It'll help - trust me on this.

Response:

Freefan141-Thanks for your review! I'm glad the summary was interesting cause you have no idea how many hours it took for me to write a snappy, straight-to-the-point kind which would hook potential readers in. Plus, my writing style...I'm developing that as I go along, seeing what suits the character in the spotlight and the circumstance they're facing. Now about Ace...that much-loved freckles pirate will definitely be in an angsty, resigned mood. But if things go as plan, maybe not XD Hope you enjoyed this chapter and the ones that'll come along in the future.


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